THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR....THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER

THE END IS HERE AND THAT IS A GOOD THING..The school year is over..it was long, difficult and yet wonderful at the same time. It is always bittersweet to end things in your life, and yet in some cases, it brings you closer to other things that you have been waiting for. I LOVE MY JOB. I think that anyone who knows me, knows that..That is a very positive thing for me, since it isn't all that easy of a job. People seem to be pulling you from a lot of different directions, but autism is very interesting, ever changing and I like it...plus...I LOVE MY KIDS and parents. BUT this year when June came rolling around I WAS READY TO LEAVE...I want to spend some more time with ..as much as I can with my littel granddaughter Tanner...I could put her in my back pocket and carry her around with me for the rest of my life if her mom and dad would let me. I hope to be with her enough that she will know who I am and want to be with me, and miss me when I am not with her. If I can do that I will be a success.
This year I had some help from Wendy, who will not be returning in the fall....LONG STORY..She was wonderful and took alot of pressure off me. She not only did a great job, and really GOT autism, she is a good friend and I like to be around her..She laughs at my jokes and actually has a great sense of humor and she makes me laugh. I wish her the best of luck, and I know that she will remain "into autism" and a part of my life and the lives of all our kids. She made a difference, that is not easy to do. Thanks Wendy:-)



AND NOW...THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER VACATION IS HERE..HALLELUJAH...
To me that means relaxation, sleeping in, watching DAYS OF OUR LIVES when it is on and not Tivo(ed), being on the boat, doing things around the house and spending time with my family..woot woot. I started that today..
We put up our hammock and Bob got to use it..It is so comfortable...he said. Moses like being over there too..lol






We put up a thermometer and clock on the deck..so nice to know what time it is so you can plan your day and you know when you are going to do NOTHING.




Took Bob to Speech Therapy this afternoon and then headed to the boat to meet Zane and Lauren. I LOVE MY BOAT.. I am so glad I bought it for BOB..lol. So we took a spin around the lake, and then went to THE EYE to eat dinner and it was a wonderful first day of summer vacation..Tomorrow is Jacks graduation, Mackenzie and Derek, Zane and Lauren, Chels and Hori and TANNER are going and lots of other family.. I will miss Beau and Misty, but will see them soon. LIFE IS GOOD.

ALWAYS LEARNING ABOUT THINGS

The newest thing I learned today is that when you write on your blog to make a post...and then you save it cuz you don't have time to finish it...When you DO post it, it has the date that you started it on...ARRGH..so now no knows that I updated, because it is still at the bottom of the list...This taught me to add another blog to make sure I get it up to the top so people will read it..DUH.. That is not rocket science.
I have also learned that weeding is harder work than I remember and I still hate it as much as I used to...BUT it sure looks nice when it is done and the mulch is down. I am adding pictures of what Bob and I did this sunday afternoon.. I actually wanted to sleep on the couch since I still have 4 days of school this week. The plants I planted last year have really grown and it does look better and GET THIS: I am thinking of making the flower area bigger this year...Yeah I am pretty stupid, but it does look better. And to put things in perspective I can just see my little TANNEY BOP walking through the flowers next year and having a great time before we swing on the hammonck...awww.. a memory in the making..



Well, as long as I was outside, I decided to take a picture of your new CHEAP table and chairs on the deck. It is hard to beat 4 chairs a table and and an umbrella for $88. Yeah I am a good shopper and I did not buy it online...REALLY...



I bought Bob a hammock swing and we put it up today.. I also got him a big ass hammock but it didnt come yet..I dont want to overwhelm him with so many things to put together and put up. We had a wooden swing inthe front year until Bob and my mom broke it last year..with them on it...lol. So I got this more comfortable one for Bob...yep you guessed it....AND GRANDCHILDREN
Okay I am so sure this blog has moved me up to the top.. I am expecting alot of people reading this and enjoying it..And as an added touch to this blog...Here are some pictures of little Tanner.

A LOT OF STUFF HAS BEEN HAPPENING

Oh man, I can believe it has been 2 months since I have written on here..because tons of stuff has happened. April is always the busiest moth for me since it is AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH... that just means alot of stuff going on in the schools and community. Spring break started the month off, but not good. I had the stomach flu for the whole entire week..I got up Saturday morning and didn't feel well until the following friday...IT WAS HORRENDOUS...RIGHT SUZI?... On the good side, I lost 11 pounds and had it all gained back by Monday morning...That was not right...
Easter was nice and I kept thinking it would be the last Easter that I would not be a GRAMMA...super excited about that..
We had a couple projects at school for autism and had to get all those going..I send all the teachers awareness things to do with their kids: word searches, internet finds, coloring pages etc, so I got all those in the email to them. I have 22 schools and 46 teachers so it is quite a list. We also decided to do a BULLETIN BOARD CONTEST. The ASNCI would give two $100 prizes to the winning bulletin boards that best spread autism awareness. WE had two winners, Theresa Holmes from my building, and Melissa Smith from Olive School in New Carlisle.
The walk was great and lots of people showed up, lots of fun with everyone, alot more orgnized and even though minor things happened, like rain, thunder, blowing fuses, not being able to cook the hotdogs or make popcorn..all in all it was great..I do think that this will be my last year of chairing the event. There are alot of capable people out there, I will still go and do my registration thing..just not the WHOLE thing.










AND THEN THE MOST EXCITING NEWS WAS THE BIRTH OF OUR FIRST GRANDCHILD...WOW.. It was and continues to be the most amazing thing ever in my life..If I could see her everyday, I would. I think about her all the time and can't wait to hear my phone beep to know that I have a new picture of her from Chels.
George and Chels had a 8# 15 ounce baby girl on May 2, 2009..we were there too..not in the room, but in the hospital. She was 20 inches long and Chels and Hori had a pretty easy time, just seven and half hours total..Chels said it wasnt that bad and she would do it again...
Then they brought little Tanner Quinn home and now Chels thinks she will wait awhile to get pregnant for the next lil leedle.
She is a wonderful baby, not only adorable, sweet and perfect (gramma says so) she really is a good baby..eating ad sleeping a a little fussing just to keep her mommy and daddy on their toes.

Friends and family welcoming new LITTLE LEEDLE

I thought that I better get this blog up and beat Chels, I know hers will be up on Thursday night. I am just going to post some pictures of some of the people who helped welcome Little Leedle with a shower in Union Mills on Saturday...It really was amazing I think...good food, lots of people, tons of gifts, mega tons of diapers....and just a happy day. I was so busy though I did not take a picture of the cake or any of the gifts, I was too busy watching Chelsea open her gifts...lots and lots of them. I guess I should thank all the people who were there on Saturday, for the gifts, their appearance and also for sitting through the longest shower ever...It may be a record in Ripleys Believe It or Not...LOL
So here are the pictures of people and check out Chelsea's blog on Thursday night to get the real low down...

BOWLING ADVENTURES WITH AUTISTIC TEENS...FUN TIMES

The weather was terrible but the company was great and the time was terrific. I always do NOT look forward to teen activity nights, but I always have such a great time. I think that autistic kids are the most fun. The Autism Team, of which I am a member, go figure, is supposed to be having a "TEEN ACTIVITY NIGHT" one time a month during the school year. We have had TWO...but each one was more fun than the last one. Unless you have attended, and not many of the team did this past one...arrggh..you have no idea what you are missing.



We bowled at Casey Lanes in La Porte..Becky Jeffers and I, and of course my partner in crime, Bob handled all the kids who came to bowl...all 11 og them...Yeah, I think they all decided to come and have a good time with us.. WE were missing a few of "our regulars" but picked up some new kiddos and we had FUN.







Not everyone had the same style but it didnt matter, no made fun of anyone else, no one even cared. It is amazing how many you points you can get bowling through you legs...



One of the boys didn't want to bowl at all, because he would have to put on someone else's shoes..WHAT??? Is he autistic or something?? I guess every once in awhile we need to be reminded, so he sat and talked Bob's ear off (pardon the idiom)


Many of the boys, yes it was all boys, ended up
developing great form and racking up the points with strikes and spares. Way to go guys.















Everyone had a good time and some of the kids actually stayed longer with their parents after
everyone else went home. During the time we were there, several of the boys learned how to do
many thing related to bowling: keeping score, waiting turns, skipping players (when someone had to go to the bathroom or couldn't wait to get some FOOD..Guess who that was?? He is in eighth grade..and his initials are T.J. for those of you reading this who know my kids...) , even bowling without bumpers as some of the kids had...

Yes, the kids had fun, learned alot, and didn't want to go home..I on the other hand, who has never bowled, learned alot and was anxios to go home...7 am to 8 pm is a very long day..BUT well worth it. The kids want to go bowling again next time and I think we will..They deserve to have nights out too. I LOVE MY KIDS...(surprise!!!)

GOODBYE BENNY, WE LOVE AND MISS YOU

Benny was put to sleep this afternoon and it is a sad sad day for Bob and me, and for everyone that knew Benny.. You just had to love him if you met him. We will miss him very much, but the vet seemed to think he was seripusly ill and though he would have done anythign we wanted to try to save him, we could tell that he would only suffer. We did not know today that it would be his last or I would have taken pictures of him, but I did have a snow day today and I actually spent alot of time with him. He seemed better today than he had in about 10 days...maybe he knew it would be his last day. He had not eaten in about 3 0r 4 days, and was keeping him self alive with water. We took him off all his meds yesterday and today he was pretty good and seemed alert. He wagged his tail once today but refused to eat anything I gave him to try...salmon, canned chicken,broth..he would just smell it and turn his face away. He didn't cough all day though and his drooling was better and he stayed with us the whole day.. I will miss him very much..Benny I love you.